Coulrophobia
by albinotanuki
Summary: Cedric has a deep seated fear of clowns. How can Sofia help him?
1. Chapter 1

I got inspiration to write this fanfic after learning that Jess Harnell, the voice of Cedric, was also the voice of Wakko from _Animaniacs_. I decided to write this fanfic with Cedric being afraid of clowns as a parody of Wakko's fear of clowns, especially in the episode _Clown and Out_.

Disclaimer: I do not own _Sofia the First_ or any of the characters; those belong to Disney.

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Sofia was so proud that she had passed her latest sorcery test. Not only that, but the Goldenwing Circus was in town and her parents promised that if the children had made good grades in their sorcery test that they would go. Sofia couldn't have passed her test without Cedric's tutoring, so in her gratitude, Sofia decided that she would invite the sorcerer to the circus.

Sofia went up the stairs into Cedric's tower and knocked on the door. Cedric opened the door and looked down at the little princess.

"Hello Mr. See-dric."

"Its Cedric." said the sorcerer in annoyance.

"Mr. See-dric, look! I passed my sorcery test!" said Sofia showing the sorcerer her gold star.

"That's wonderful." said Cedric who was quite impressed with Sofia's progress.

"I couldn't have done it without your help, Mr. See-dric." Sofia smiled, "That's why I want to invite you out. The Goldenwing Circus is in town and I thought it would be a nice treat for the both of us. What do you say?"

The minute Sofia mentioned the word "circus", Cedric's eyes widened and his face turned white.

"You know, I would love to go, but I've got a lot of work to do. I'm really sorry. Maybe we can do it... NEVER!"

At that moment, Cedric quickly slammed the door. Sofia could hear several locks being locked inside. Sofia found Cedric's behavior quite puzzling. Why would he act this way when all she mentioned was that she wanted to take him to the circus?

Sofia went downstairs in confusion when Baileywick the stuart came over to her.

"What's the matter, Sofia?"

"Its Mr. See-dric." sighed Sofia, "All I asked is if he wanted to go to the Goldenwing Circus and then he started acting weird. Its almost as if he's scared or something."

"Thats because he's afraid of clowns."

"Clowns?" asked Sofia.

"Oh yes." said Baileywick, "He's afraid of clowns, harlequins, koshares, minstrel shows-"

"People still do minstrel shows?"

"You'd be surprised at how racist our post-racial society can be." Baileywick noted, "Cedric is so afraid of clowns that he becomes crazy and unpredictable. Its one of the worse cases of coulrophobia I've ever seen."

Baileywick looked down at his pocket watch.

"Oh dear, I have to go check to see if dinner is almost ready. See you later, Sofia."

Sofia stood there contemplating what Baileywick had just told her.

'Coulrophobia.' She wondered, 'Never knew something like that existed. Poor Mr. See-dric.'

And with that, Sofia started to ponder on how to make the sorcerer feel better.

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Tell me what you think so far. Please R&R.


	2. Chapter 2

Lets see how Sofia is gonna help Cedric.

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Sofia's friends gathered in the ballroom dressed as clowns. Ruby, who was wearing whiteface, turned to the other children.

"Say, does me wearing whiteface offend any of you?"

"No." said Princess Amber in blackface, a work dress, and a headscarf, "Does my blackface offend you?"

"Yes." said Ruby.

"Pfft. So sensitive." Princess Amber rolled her eyes.

"So remind why we're all dressed as clowns again?" asked Jade.

"Sofia wants to cure Cedric of his fear of clowns, so she wants us to dress up as clowns as a way to help. Its called desensitization." said Prince James before turning to Lucinda the witch, "Lucinda, are you sure Cedric won't be able to undo your door sealing hex?"

"Trust me. Even a sage won't be able to undo my hex." said Lucinda.

Meanwhile, Sofia was leading a blindfolded Cedric down the hallway.

"Do I REALLY have to wear this blindfold?" asked Cedric.

"It wouldn't be a surprise if you knew what it was." said Sofia leading the sorcerer down the hallway.

As they got to the ballroom, Sofia closed the door and took off Cedric's blindfold. Cedric gasped in fear seeing the bright clothes and painted faces of the children.

"We're gonna help cure you of your coulrophobia, Mr. See-dric." Sofia smiled.

Cedric rushed for the door, only to discover it was locked. Cedric reached for his wand and pointed at the lock.

"NON OSTRIUM CRINEM!"

But the spell diffused once it hit the lock.

"MERLIN'S MUSHROOMS, ITS HEXED!"

"Told ya." whispered Lucinda.

"Don't worry, Mr. See-dric. We're your friends. We're just here to help you." said Sofia taking Cedric's hand, who was gasping for breath, "Look Mr. See-dric, my brother, James, is dressed up as a clown, but its still James deep down. All it is is makeup."

Cedric was now sweating profusely at the site of the little boy in the white makeup.

"There's really nothing to be afraid of, Mr. Cedric." said Princess Jun, honking a bicycle horn.

Cedric felt something tugging at his robe. He looked down and saw Teeny the troll all dressed up holding amateur balloon art.

"I made a balloon aminal."

Cedric started screaming, was running towards the glass windows, and jumped out, breaking the glass. The children scrambled towards the broken window and cringed seeing Cedric hit the ground.

"...I'll go get the iodine." said Sofia.

It seemed now that curing Cedric's fear of clowns wasn't going to be easy.

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Please R&R.


	3. Chapter 3

Sofia had brought Cedric into his tower and was mending his wounds.

"I'm really sorry about all this, Mr. See-dric. Its my fault I got you hurt; I was only trying to help you."

"Don't beat yourself up over this, Sofia; one thing I can't stand seeing a little girl feeling guilty for herself." said Cedric.

"I'm just glad that bed of roses broke your fall." said Sofia applying a cotton ball of iodine to Cedric's wounds, "So why ARE you afraid of clowns anyways?"

"I don't like talking about it."

"It might help just to get it off your chest, Mr. See-dric."

Cedric sighed, trying to recount his memories.

"It was my third birthday. My parents invited a clown over to entertain my party. His name was Nickelbottom. I didn't know what to make of him at first with that white face, red nose, and mischievous smile. He made a balloon dog for me and made it bark. Apparently the barking annoyed Nickelbottom, so he twisted the balloon dog's neck and it popped with red stuff flying out at me."

Sofia's eyes widened in shock.

"You know, looking back, I think it might've been strawberry jam." said Cedric pondering.

"But that's still a pretty mean trick to play on someone, especially at that age." Sofia replied.

"I think its best I just avoid clowns at all cost." sighed Cedric.

"Well there's no guarantee that you won't ever encounter another clown again, Mr. See-dric." said Sofia, "We need to find a way to help you get over your fears."

"I appreciate you want to help, Sofia, but as you can see your attempt didn't change me, so why would any other attempt work?"

"Its that kind of attitude that's making your problem worse, Mr. See-dric."

Sofia then took Cedric's hand and held it in hers.

"If you won't do it for yourself, then do it for me."

Cedric look back at the little princess looking back at him with big blue eyes. Then he looked at the purple amulet of Avalor around Sofia's neck. How could he say no to those eyes (or that amulet)?

"Alright, I'll try."

Sofia wrapped her arms around the sorcerer's neck.

"Thank you, Mr. See-dric."

Cedric was conflicted in wanting to wrap his arms around the little girl either to hug her back or steal her amulet, but his arms were too painful to do either, so he left it at that and let the little princess do all the hugging.

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Please R&R.


	4. Chapter 4

It was Saturday morning, so Sofia had time to visit Cedric in his tower to see how he was doing and help him with his coulrophobia. Sofia knocked on the door and Cedric opened it with his wand.

"Good morning Mr. See-dric. Are you ready for your therapy session?"

"You're not going to have your friends dress as clowns again, are you?"

"No. We're just going to start out slow today. I brought some Rorschach inkblots and a paper bag in case you start hyperventilating."

"Alright, come on in." said Cedric, ushering the little princess into his laboratory.

"How are your cuts and bruises?" asked Sofia as she set her supplies down on the table.

"Getting better. Now my arms only hurt when I start using them."

"Glad to hear." said Sofia as she sat down at the table. "Now, I'll show you some inkblots and you tell me what you see."

Sofia started showing Cedric some inkblot images as Cedric started saying what came to his mind as he looked at them.

"Duck. Spider. King Roland slamming his boot against my face. Father's growing disappointment. The girl I loved as a teenager who never loved me back."

"Okay, everything seems normal." Sofia assessed. "Now tell me what you see in this inkblot."

Sofia showed Cedric an inkblot that, to him, looked exactly like Nickelbottom. Suddenly memories of that birthday party started to flood his mind and he started breathing heavily.

"Mr. See-dric!"

Sofia started to worry seeing the sorcerer's panic attack. She grabbed the paper bag and ran over to Cedric's side.

"Here, just breathe into this, Mr. See-dric."

Cedric grabbed the bag and started inhaling and exhaling into it.

"That's it." said Sofia, "Just breathe in slowly."

Cedric's breathing eventually started to slow down.

"Alright, I'm fine." said Cedric taking the paper bag away from his face.

"Why don't to we skip the Rorschach test and lets get to the questionnaire." said Sofia before sitting back down in her seat, "Now I'm going to list different types of clowns and you tell me which scare you the most and why." Sofia then took out her list, "Tell me what you think of jesters."

"Jesters don't have the scary face, so I'm not really afraid of them, though I do think they have a very bad fashion sense."

"Mimes?"

"Mimes I can tolerate since they can't talk so they won't make any death threats."

"Hobo clowns?"

"Hobos at least follow a code of ethics, but the possibility of them carrying various diseases is enough for me to keep away from them."

"Rodeo clowns?"

"Anyone who isn't afraid of bulls has to be demented."

"Blackface minstrels?"

"Clowns mixed with racism is the worst. Plus I worry if I try fighting them off, I'd be charge with a hate crime."

"Harlequins?"

"Often portrayed as devils, so when I encounter one, I worry it might try to send me straight to Hell."

Sofia jotted down all of Cedric's responses on paper.

"Okay, how about the most prominent: circus clowns?"

Cedric paused for a moment, thinking about why circus clowns in particular scare him the most.

"What can I say about circus clowns? Everything's scary about them. Their death white faces, their blood red noses, their insidious laughter; I hear that calliope playing in the background and I know instantly that death is awaiting me as the clowns come in back of me and drag me off into their tent with an axe, ready to chop me up to make their pies. The scariest thing about them is that they make people laugh, but their audience isn't aware of the evils they commit behind the stage. The circus is a madhouse breeding with mad men."

Sofia realized Cedric was being more than serious with his assessment. Like Baileywick had stated, it was one of the worse cases of coulrophobia she had ever seen.

"Maybe we should stop now and pick up same time tomorrow."

"Alright then."

Cedric opened the door for Sofia and ushered her out the door agreeing to meet each other again tomorrow.

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Please R&R.


	5. Chapter 5

Sofia came back the next morning with a basket of eggs and a bat. Sofia knocked on Cedric's door and Cedric opened it.

"Mr. See-dric, I think I have a solution to your problem."

"You do?" asked Cedric, "Well them I'm quite curious to see what it is."

Sofia came into the sorcerer's laboratory.

"First thing's first; are your arms well enough to carry a bat?" asked the princess.

"Why do you ask?" said the sorcerer.

"Cause I want you to use this." said Sofia handing the bat over to Cedric.

Cedric looked at the bat in confusion and was even more confused when Sofia brought out the eggs.

"I figured the main problem you have with clowns is that you feel powerless against them. As a kid, you weren't able to do anything about that clown who frightened you at your birthday party and that fear has carried on through your adult life."

Sofia then took out an egg painted to look like a clown and set it on the table.

"I want you to hit that clown over the head and show him who's boss."

Cedric was reluctant to use the bat, but he swung as hard as he could and smashed the egg into a gooey mess.

"Feel better?" asked Sofia.

"I'll admit, that WAS a bit exhilarating." said Cedric with a small smile on his face.

Sofia put another clown-painted egg on the table.

"Try another one."

Cedric took the bat and hit the other egg.

"I'm actually having fun with this." Cedric laughed.

"See? You're showing that you have the power to stand up to those clowns."

Sofia continued putting eggs on the table as Cedric kept smashing them. It seemed now Cedric's fear of clowns was now disappearing.

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Please R&R.


	6. Chapter 6

Sofia was sleeping by the window sill with her animal friends when she felt a hand on her shoulder.

"Sofia, wake up."

Sofia woke up to see her mother and father looking at her.

"Mom? Dad? What is it?"

"We need to talk." said her mother sternly.

"See," said King Roland, "The castle baker says we were low on eggs and Cedric had been caught hitting clowns over the head with a bat. Luckily, there were no fatal injuries, but-"

"But we'll need to keep an eye on Cedric for a while." Queen Miranda said finishing her husband's sentence.

Sofia blushed wildly. It seemed she had accidentally created a monster with that last therapy session.

After her parents left the room, Sofia decided to go up into Cedric's tower.

"Mr. See-dric?" she asked, slowly opening the door.

Sofia had found Cedric in a terrible mess. Egg was splattered everywhere and the entire laboratory was trashed. Even Cedric's pet raven, Wormwood, seemed terrified at the scene. Then there was Cedric, covered in egg with his robe and black and white hair in a mess with a demented smile on his face.

Sofia cautiously walked over to the sorcerer.

"Mr. See-dric, are you alright?"

"Such power." said Cedric, "I had never felt such a thrill in my life. To take actual control against those that use to frighten me; you have no idea what joy this brings me."

"I think you're starting to enjoy your power a little too much, Mr. See-dric."

"Princess Sofia, I should thank you for bringing this thrill to my life. If it weren't for you, I'd still be afraid of clowns."

"I'm glad you're no longer afraid of clowns, but I didn't want this to end with you actually hurting them."

"Don't tell me you're actually on their side."

"No, I'm on your side, but you can't just go around hurting other clowns after what one clown did to you all those years ago. Mr. See-dric, I'm worried that your prejudice might start turning you into a bully."

"I knew it! You're one of them!" Said Cedric coming up on Sofia.

Sofia started to cower as the deranged sorcerer came at her with a bat.

"Mr. See-dric, please open your eyes; don't do this!"

Cedric swung the bat, smashing many flasks. Sofia tripped on a piece of overturned furniture. Sofia screamed in terror as Cedric raised the bat against her.

"Mr. See-dric, STOP!"

Cedric did as Sofia had commanded and seemed to have snapped out of his mania. He looked around at the destruction in his laboratory, coming to the realization that he had done all this. He then looked over at Sofia, whom he had expected to run out of the room, but was now wrapping her arms around him.

"This is all my fault." she said crying, "I did this to you."

Cedric realized now the monster he had let himself become. Not only had he been hurting clowns, but he had almost tried to hurt Princess Sofia, the only one who believed in him.

"No." he said, putting his arms around the little princess, "Its my fault. I let myself become this. Worst of all, I almost tried to hurt you with my blind rage. No one should have to face that, clown or no clown."

Sofia smiled a little and snuggled up against Cedric's chest.

"Its good to have you back, Mr. See-dric."

"Its Cedric."

"Again, good to have you back."

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Yes, I'm making this the last chapter. It may not be the best ending, but its an ending none-the-less. Please R&R.


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